The craft malthouse of Dinant
The alliance of artisanal know-how and sustainable innovation
Our story
Malterie Artisanale de Dinant was born from the meeting of two enthusiasts with complementary backgrounds: Gil, an agricultural engineer turned malting expert, and Rodrigue, an entrepreneur converted to regenerative farming. Their shared conviction: to revive local malt production in Belgium by creating an authentic alternative to standardised industrial malts.
The malthouse is taking shape at Ferme de Waulx in Anseremme, on a plateau between the Lesse and Meuse rivers. The location is no accident: the farm grows Demeter-certified barley itself, its fields receive the steeping water, and local livestock farmers take the rootlets. From the outset, the malthouse was designed as one link in a short supply chain, between organic farmers within 100 km and the region's breweries.
Two choices shaped the project from the design stage. The first: malting without fossil energy, with a biomass boiler and green electricity, where the other Belgian malthouses kiln with imported gas. The second: working in small 5-tonne batches in a rotating drum, with an in-house laboratory analysing every batch, to give brewers both freshness and consistency.
Funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU through the Wallonia Recovery Plan and Food Wallonia, as part of food relocalisation, the project enters its final stretch in 2026: the first malts are expected in November 2026, from organic barley of the 2026 harvest.
January 2024 The building 
March 2025 The pond 
5 July 2025 The silos 
23 July 2026 The installation
Our founding values
Circular economy at the heart of our model
At MAD, we designed our malthouse as an ecosystem where every resource finds a second life. The water used during grain steeping, rich in nutrients, is recovered and used to irrigate the farmland adjacent to the malthouse. The rootlets, those small roots that develop during germination and that we remove during deculming, are recovered as animal feed for local farmers. This circular approach not only allows us to reduce our environmental footprint, but also to create local synergies. No waste leaves our malthouse: everything is recovered.
100% renewable heating, unique in Belgium
Kilning, the crucial malting step where green malt is dried to develop its characteristic aromas, is traditionally very energy-intensive. All Belgian malthouses use imported gas as their main energy source. At MAD, we made the bold choice to be different. Our heating system combines a biomass boiler fed with wood chips from local by-products and certified green electricity. This configuration, unique among Belgian malthouses, allows us to produce malts with a considerably reduced carbon footprint, while supporting the local economy and freeing ourselves from dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Fair partnerships with our farmers
The quality of a malt begins in the field. That's why we have built close and lasting relationships with farmers in our region. Together, we select the barley varieties best suited to our terroir and our quality requirements. Beyond geographical proximity, we are committed to buying our cereals at a fair price, taking into account actual production costs. This fair price ethic allows farmers to live with dignity from their work while practicing organic and sustainable agriculture. It's a virtuous circle: supported farmers produce better quality cereals, which yield exceptional malts.
The founders
Gil — Co-founder and Malting Expert
An agricultural engineer by training, Gil is the initiator of the MAD project. After a doctoral thesis on the diversity of the domestic bee and the study of its social immunity, carried out partly in Belgium and the Netherlands and defended in September 2017, he acquired many skills in project management and scientific research. Alongside his thesis, Gil started brewing beer. Keen to use local raw materials, he established contacts with experts in the malting barley sector. He then became passionate about malt production and visited micro-malthouses in France and Switzerland. Since June 2018, he has held a Research and Development Manager position at a Belgian malthouse, where he supervises numerous projects and continues to train in the art of malting.
Rodrigue — Co-founder and Entrepreneurial Vision
An electrical engineer by training, Rodrigue founded a technology company in 2005 that he developed with strong growth over a decade. In 2015, the company had about a hundred employees spread across three continents, making this adventure one of Belgium's great success stories. After this success, Rodrigue devoted himself to investing in startups with a positive impact on our planet. Gradually, he became passionate about sustainable agriculture. After actively training in it, he took over Ferme de Waulx, which he transformed into a living place dedicated to regenerative agriculture and artisanal processing. The micro-malthouse is a natural new step in this approach focused on local, quality and sustainability.
Our facilities
Our malthouse is equipped with modern facilities inspired by the best equipment manufacturers in the sector. Our production process revolves around three main pieces of equipment:
Steeping tank
A classic tank where barley is immersed in water to initiate the germination process. The alternation of immersion and aeration phases allows optimal moisture content to be achieved.
Rotating drum
This versatile equipment handles both germination and kilning. Constant rotation ensures homogeneous germination and uniform malt drying, contributing to the remarkable consistency of our products.
Quality control laboratory
Equipped to perform all necessary analyses: barley germination power, moisture content, protein content, malt EBC color, and many other essential parameters. This analytical capacity allows us to guarantee the compliance of each batch with the most demanding specifications.
Our production capacity allows us to process 5-ton batches with remarkable precision and consistency.
Our certifications
MAD is certified for the production of organic malts according to European regulations. This certification attests to our commitment to using only cereals from organic farming and to respecting production processes that exclude any synthetic chemical inputs.